Rory MacLean reviews + Burma | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/series/rorymaclean+burma
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Rory MacLean reviews Burma Chronicles by Guy Delislehttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/may/19/burma-chronicles-books-review
Burma Chronicles is the most enlightening and insightful book about life under the country's brutal dictatorship in years, says Rory MacLean<p>I spent the summer holidays of my Canadian childhood reading comic books. Not Batman or the Beano which were too parochial for my taste – i.e. testosterone-pumping heroics in Gotham City and daft larks in the Midlands – but rather The Iliad, Moby Dick and the Lord of the Rings. In those days an inspirational American publisher named Albert Kanter produced a series called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classics_Illustrated">Classics Illustrated</a>. Over 30 years he adapted 169 literary masterpieces into evocative graphic storybooks. Dickens, Dumas, Emily Bronte, Walter Scott, Gogol and Jules Verne, I read them first as illustrated comics. Kanter's objective was to bring intelligent literature to young people and his work remains the most noble in the history of illustrated children's magazines.</p><p>Since the demise of Classics Illustrated in 1971, and the commercial success of populist comic books and their cinematic super heroes, I've been suspicious of contemporary graphic storytellers. Apart from the genius of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crumb">Robert Crumb</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Spiegelman">Art Spiegelman</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posy_Simmonds">Posy Simmonds</a>, everything else seemed worthy only of the &quot;funny pages&quot;, a minor distraction at the back of the weekend paper. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/may/19/burma-chronicles-books-review">Continue reading...</a>BurmaEthical holidaysTravelTravel writingTue, 19 May 2009 09:21:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/may/19/burma-chronicles-books-reviewPR'Comic masterpiece' ... Burma Chronicles by Guy DelislePRBurma Chronicles by Guy Delisle Photograph: PRRory Maclean2009-05-19T09:21:00ZThe pariah countrieshttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/apr/24/rorymaclean.travelbooks
For his latest book, Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler set out to travel along the 'axis of evil'. Rory MacLean applauds his journey<p><strong>Bad Lands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil</strong><br />By Tony Wheeler<br />Lonely Planet &pound; 7.99</p><p>A couple of years ago Tony Wheeler, the patron saint of independent travel, visited all seven continents. Captain Cook was probably the first claimant of this world-embracing title, but even he didn't manage to do it within a single twelve-month period.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/apr/24/rorymaclean.travelbooks">Continue reading...</a>TravelAfghanistanAlbaniaBurmaCubaIranIraqLibyaNorth KoreaBooksCultureTravel writingTue, 24 Apr 2007 13:03:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/apr/24/rorymaclean.travelbooksFlirting with danger ... Tony Wheeler and friends on the cover of his new book. Image: Lonely PlanetRory Maclean2007-04-24T13:03:40Z